


LATTE is a two-way street

by kwuintessence



Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: Coffee Shops, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:04:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13490727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwuintessence/pseuds/kwuintessence
Summary: [ JinYoon·Coffee Shop AU ]There is something about him, something about this man that he doesn’t know, something that warms his blood - intoxicating him into something that is beyond his organic circuitry. He wanted to tell him that he has completely beguiled him, that he has become his entire world. Instead, Seungyoon lifts the pitcher up, tipping from above, pouring his feelings into the cup and filling it to the brim.





	LATTE is a two-way street

**Author's Note:**

> · Prompt # 64:  
> Kim Jinwoo doesn't like getting close to anyone.  
> Kang Seungyoon wants to get closer than close with him.
> 
> · Pairing: JINYOON (Jinwoo/Seungyoon)  
> · Written for WINNER CIRCLE FIC EX  
> · Theme: COFFEE SHOP  
> · Has a hint of the supernatural.

 

 

> [ cof·fee **_drink_** ·er ]

 

To start with, he looked nothing like _Edward Cullen._

The only two things he pretty much had in common with the guy is that he can walk around in broad daylight without combusting into flames and that he too is a _vampire._

A **_370-year-old_** living vampire.

Well, maybe _not_ living. Cause _technically,_ he isn’t even really alive.

 

However, Kim Jinwoo has managed to experience and see a lot during his 370 years of existence. From war outbreaks, severe famines, _men landing on the moon,_ people coming alive inside a tiny box, a huge chunk of metal flying in the sky, _spiffy ‘flushing’ toilets,_ and his absolute favorite... _the internet._

Jinwoo could spend hours on it and never get bored. Social networks like twitter, instagram, youtube, and facebook allowed him to easily interact with everyone in the world. It was so very different from the era when letters would take weeks and even months to arrive. Also, it allowed their kind to not only blend in well with humans but also survive. ‘Special’ online communities made blood distribution and dispatch to their kind more easier than ever. Now that Hollywood has capitalized on them and glamorized them, gone are the days when they were viciously hunted down.

For someone like him who didn’t age, human interaction has always been a very fleeting thing. The people he encountered grew older and older until they eventually perished while he remained young and did not. It happened to him one too many times before, meeting someone that he thought he could trust only to realize too late that he got deceived. Things then escalated to getting chased out by a mob of angry villagers who threatened to burn him alive, to getting hunted down in the dark and barely escaping getting _staked._

From then on, Jinwoo greatly reduced his interaction with humans to the bare minimum. It was better that he did not catch their attention. Not only was it less trouble for him but in this way, he would not have the chance to get attached to anyone. For someone like him to continue to co-exist with humans, he needed to _not e_ xist. Doing so made it easier for him to leave existence after existence behind and assume a new one.

 

This time around, he decided to try his hand at writing novels. With internet speeds faster than ever, watching Korean and Japanese dramas online has encouraged him and greatly inspired him. In his life before this one, he worked at a warehouse. He took care of shipping and receiving goods. There was barely any human interaction at all since he had his own work area and his co-workers communicated with him mostly through email. The only times he really had to talk with someone was when truck drivers came by and he had to load or unload pallets, but even then it only lasted for a few minutes and most of the time it was just about the weather that day.

Jinwoo knew he had to leave that life behind that one winter morning a few years back when he saw a mutt cross the road with a car speeding towards it. Without much thought, he immediately leaped right in front of the oncoming vehicle and was struck. Knocked out and profusely bleeding, he was immediately taken to a nearby local hospital in that area, only to wake up to a doctor in the ER who couldn’t detect his pulse. Jinwoo figured it was best to just go along with it and play dead, taking his chance to escape soon after he was wheeled into the morgue.

 

The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled Jinwoo out of his reverie. Glancing up from his open notebook, his eyes land on a young man wearing an apron around his waist and a sunshine bright kind of smile. The smell of coffee permeates his clothes. Jinwoo watches him hold a coffee cup in his left hand and a small metal pitcher in his right. He lifts the pitcher up, tipping from above the cup, pouring and dragging slowly with practiced ease then carefully placing the cup down before him.

**A latte with a perfectly shaped _‘heart’_ out of milk foam.**

_“Um, I didn’t order this.”_ Jinwoo says, his voice muffled by the face mask he wore that half covered his face.

The young man wasn’t deterred. His hand moves to push the cup closer to him.

_“I know. This one is on me.”_

Jinwoo awed by the tone of his voice, sets his _pen_ down on the table.

 _“You should try it while it’s still hot.”_ with a fond smile, the young man gestures towards the cup, leaning closer to him.

 _“It looks so good.”_ Jinwoo tells him, earning him another sunshine bright smile. _“Can I take a picture?”_

He takes a hurried shot with his phone, focusing on the milk foam. Turning away, he took off his face mask and took a small sip. Jinwoo’s lips couldn’t help but curve into an instantaneous smile as the robust taste of espresso burst into his mouth, mellowed out with delicately sweet milk, its warmth spreading into his whole being.

 _“How is it?”_ the young man interrupted him softly.

 _“It’s perfect.”_ Jinwoo manages, brushing a few strands of loose hair away from his face, literally perfect.

_“Are you a university student?”_

Jinwoo shrugs, laughing a little and taking a longer sip this time. He’s over 300 something years older than this guy, but of course, he doesn’t know that. Maybe he should go back to university life in his next life, it has been quite a while.

A beeping sound breaks out and as if on cue, the young man’s hand dig into one of his apron pockets fishing out his phone.

 _“Looks like my break is over.”_ he says, looking at him as if considering something.

Jinwoo averted his gaze, choosing to glance down his cup, _“It’s delicious. Thank you.”_

 _“I can make it for you again.”_ the young man says, his stare unwavering, _“The next time you come by.”_

Jinwoo bites into his bottom lip reminding himself not to get too close. It never ends well, not for him, _not for his kind._ He should draw a line between them now while he still can. The sooner, the better.

 _“I almost forgot.”_ he lies, making himself appear nonchalant, _“I’m meeting someone so I better get going.”_

He covers his face again with his face mask. Putting away his notebook in his bag, he stands up, wanting to get out of there as quickly as he can. As he walked towards the door to leave, Jinwoo could sense his eyes following him.

 _“I’m Seungyoon.”_ he abruptly hears him say from behind him, _“Can I at least get your name?”_

Jinwoo pretends not to hear him. Stepping out of the cafe, he walks away briskly. A few curious looks were tossed his away but the owners disappeared, obscured in the crowd. A gentle breeze caressed his face, autumn leaves swirling around his feet. Their brilliant fiery hues augmented by the last rays of the setting sun. Pausing for a brief moment, Jinwoo glanced towards the direction of the coffee shop, the barista’s taut concerned expression coming into focus as he searched for him.

He thinks about the latte the young barista has made for him, how it was filled to the brim, the words he wishes he could have said lost within its lovely layer of foam.

His eyes have surely aged after having lived for so long but the sight he sees with them has remained the same.

 _He seemed different._ More than others.

But being _different_ wasn't enough.

A lump forms in Jinwoo’s throat and somehow it feels like it's settled in to stay. Theirs is one of those stories better left hanging than him ruining the ending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

> [ ba· ** _ris_** ·ta ]

 

It was just as he was finishing up adding more baked goods to their display case on the counter when Kang Seungyoon immediately takes notice of the ethereal looking, pale, beautiful young man who walks in. His mind literally whirls as his person of interest gets closer to the counter, his emotions bouncing as he watched his angelic face before him flit between their _chocolate strudel_ and _almond bear claw_ that were on display.

There was something oddly stirring about him that made Seungyoon want to learn everything there is to learn about him. He comes to the coffee shop a few times a week. Always ordering the same drink, an _iced Americano_ with a side of sugar. As he places his order, Seungyoon watches him tuck his hair behind his ear, a simple act that made the thudding in his chest grow even more pronounced. It’s crazy, the overwhelming swelling emotion this man can rouse in him.

It’s almost depressing how this man doesn’t even seem to have any awareness of his existence at all. He has never, not even once, noticed him whenever he took his order or came by to serve his drink - just like he’s doing now. As usual, he’s back to covering his face again with a face mask, only removing it when he takes a sip of his drink.

Seungyoon returns to the counter feeling the quickening of his pulse. He was different from anyone else he knew in a way he couldn’t explain and put his finger on. He lets his gaze wander back to him.

 

_How simple would his life be if fate tied them together with a shorter string?_

Something in Seungyoon’s mind clicked at that moment.

And if fate did not, there is no rule that says he cannot _tug_ on those strings and pull him closer to him.

 

There’s barely anyone in the coffee shop around this time of day, Seungyoon wipes his sweaty hands on his apron before setting out to act on the plan his frazzled mind and shot nerves has concocted. Holding a coffee cup filled with some espresso & a metal pitcher with steamed milk, he walks over to the young man’s table with every bit of his confidence that he can muster.

The moment their eyes meet, Seungyoon’s mouth goes dry. It was the first time that this man has looked at him, _really looked at him_ in every sense of the word. Seungyoon can feel his gaze pierce through him, making him feel vulnerable, all the things that he rehearsed to say to him when he was still behind the counter disappearing.

He wanted to tell him that he knew about his little quirks, like how he often tugs his sleeve to cover his fingertips and how he looks out the window whenever he’s lost in thought. He wanted to tell him that he memorized the location of every mole he managed to see on his skin, and how they were like miniature stars to him, forming their very own constellation. He wanted to tell him that he wanted to see him smile more and hear him laugh often, and become the reason for it. He wanted to tell him that he could call him anytime in the middle of the night and that he would definitely come running to wherever he is.

There is something about him, something about this man that he doesn’t know, something that warms his blood - intoxicating him into something that is beyond his organic circuitry. He wanted to tell him that he has completely beguiled him, that he has become his entire world. Instead, Seungyoon lifts the pitcher up, tipping from above, pouring his feelings into the cup and filling it to the brim.

**A latte with a perfectly shaped _‘heart’_ out of milk foam.**

_“Um, I didn’t order this.”_ the man says, his voice muffled by the face mask he wore that half covered his beautiful face.

Seungyoon carefully pushes the cup closer to him, the air quickly getting stamped out of his lungs the more he looked at him, _“I know. This one is on me.”_

His hands were starting to get sweaty again, seconds ticked by and all the stranger had done is tilt his head in an adorable way that made Seungyoon’s hand itch to touch him in some way to affirm that he is real.

 _“You should try it while it’s still hot.”_ Seungyoon tries again, gesturing towards the cup.

 _“It looks so good.”_ the man tells him, a cheery tone in his voice that Seungyoon instantly found endearing. His face, unable to hide the giddiness he is feeling, break into a smile that he could feel to his toes. _“Can I take a picture?”_

Seungyoon quietly watches him take a hurried shot with his phone. Turning away from him, the man took off his face mask and finally took a sip.

 _“How is it?”_ Seungyoon asked, growing anxious because the man has stayed silent again for some time.

 _What if he didn’t like it?_ Seungyoon mused.

Maybe he should have given him something else instead. Maybe not coffee, _how about pastries?_

Oh, but he doesn’t know what he likes...

 

**_“It’s perfect.”_ **

Seungyoon’s world literally stops at the compliment.

When he looks at him again, he finds him already staring back at him. The man brushes a few strands of loose hair away from his face, stirring him up. He smiles, Seungyoon smiles - just like a silent echo, a ripple in a still pond. It felt like some sort of understanding has been etched into his bones long before the two of them have even met.

 _“Are you a university student?”_ Seungyoon asks. There’s a nearby university and he looked so young, probably even a couple years younger than him,

The man shrugs, laughing a little and charming Seungyoon yet again before taking a long sip. A beeping sound broke out, as if on cue. He dug his hand into one of his apron pockets and fished out his phone.

_“Looks like my break is over.”_

Seungyoon couldn’t believe it, time passed by so quickly and he still doesn’t know the man’s name. He wanted that much, a name to the face that keeps him tossing and turning in bed most nights, a name to the face that he chases even in his dreams.

_“It’s delicious. Thank you.”_

_“I can make it for you again!”_ he says, voice louder than he assumed, it got the other people in the coffee shop staring at them. _“The next time you come by.”_

They hold each other's gaze for a moment, Seungyoon growing perplexed as he watches him bite into his bottom lip.

 _“I almost forgot.”_ he then hears him say, tearing his gaze away from his, _“I’m meeting someone so I better get going.”_

Seungyoon watches him cover his face again with his face mask, watches him as he puts away his notebook in his bag, watches him as he rises from his seat, watches him as he starts walking towards the door. Going back into living his life, leaving about half of his latte in the cup on the table, sunshine weeping through the glass windows.

 _“I’m Seungyoon.”_  He couldn’t help it. He was growing desperate now, _“Can I at least get your name?”_

He takes a step forward, followed by another, and then everything around him moves in fast forward and he was gone in the blink of an eye.

Seungyoon stood outside the coffee shop looking down both sides of the street. He wanted all the little things with this man. To be familiar with how the color of his eyes change under the sun, to be able to hear how his voice sounds like when he has just woken up, to know how his pale fingers would feel laced around his own.

He was that shadow that always followed Seungyoon home, the one his soul is doomed to spend the rest of his existence trying to find, recklessly speeding on a highway with the kind of love that never wore a seatbelt.

 ** _Why him?_** It was a good question to ask.

He was genuinely a mystery. The kind that challenged him and made him question everything around him.

Maybe the timing is wrong, but Seungyoon decides _he will wait for him._

Perhaps one day, the two of them will see each other again in the most unassuming of places.

Seungyoon doesn’t know who he is, all he knows is how he makes him _feel._

 

 


End file.
